Friday, 6 April 2007

More die in the Middle East. Is it sad, yes. Is it surprising, unfortunately not.

"Just as we rejoice at the return of our 15 service personnel, so today we are also grieving and mourning for the loss of our soldiers in Basra, who were killed as the result of a terrorist act," Blair said outside his office at 10 Downing St

Blair claims that the return of the service personnel today was a triumph in Diplomacy, I am not so sure. I would however, call it a PR triumph for the Iranian President. Iran's release of the eight sailors and seven marines raised hopes among some that Tehran might be open to compromise on other matters, particularly Western demands for a halt to Iran's uranium enrichment program. But Iran already was warning it would retaliate if the West pushed too hard. After Britain's "walking on eggshells" stance over the hostage situation it doesn't seem Iran has any fear, or reason to fear, the west's response should it "retaliate" for being pushed. As far as Iraq goes, men and women will continue to die, as they did today, in what the west is calling a terrorist attack. We need to show the Middle East that we will no longer tolerate the terrorism they sponsor on a daily basis. I do not have all the answers, I wish I did, but I do know there is a better way than our leaders chatting over tea and sending nice notes while our soldiers die. For news footage of the aftermath of todays attack click this link http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/ver/223/popup/index.php?cl=2301810